One Blue Marble for computer programmer and archivist Bruce Baumgarten, who stopped by the Art Barn at DWeb Camp to check out what the kids were working on. 

Bruce shared his latest project— to create a virtual art gallery that would allow a visitor to immerse themselves in art. To literally get inside and experience the world of the painting in a fully sensory way. 

When I explained the origin story behind the Blue Marbles Project, Bruce told me that he knew Carl Sagan, which made the pass even more special! I learned that Bruce created and maintains the SAILDART archives from the first Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab, 1972 to 1990.

This year, DWeb Campers were invited to contribute their stories and physical objects to the Migration Archive, both a digital and physical time capsule which will be buried for 24 years and unearthed in 2048.

Bruce offers some great tips on Preservation:

“Archival digital data preservation is now simple and cheap. Make copies of the message. Store it in places accessible to readers. Provide mechanism to assist reading the message. Be sure to tell your peers, heirs and successors about your archive. Go forth and do other things.”

— 13. Preservation. www.saildart.org

A Fun Fact for the Blue Gamers: 

Bruce is listed in the Guiness Book of World Records as the winner of the first eSports event. On October 19, 1972, he was declared the winner of the Intergalactic Spacewar Olympics, a tournament held at the Stanford University AI Laboratory.